It's a partial tiny house that you finish yourself. With it you get the assurance that your home has a secure infrastructure built by our professionals. It's a great way to expedite your build, while still getting the DIY experience. For more info, click here.

Today we'd like to share a few stories from some of our recent barn raiser customers. You'll be amazed how these three barn raisers are going to become three completely different homes!

Dani Moore: I have some limitations. I have severe osteoporosis, some nerve damage and some loss of function in my legs so I wear a brace and use a mobility scooter. I knew the roof framing and lofts would be too much for me (to build). I know I can do the interior walls, but the rest would just be too much for me.

Dani in front of her eye-catching fuchsia door

Can you tell us more about your home, the size and design/layout you chose?

Dani: I have a 24 foot Elm, but my downstairs is actually only 18 foot because I have a 6 foot porch and a 12 foot wheelchair ramp. The porch was important so that I have somewhere to park my two mobility scooters while they are charging. I have a huge sleeping loft, almost 10' x 6.' My interior design isn't set yet. I have a 30 inch front door so a mobility scooter or electric wheelchair can fit through it, but most of the time inside I can use a three wheeled stool to slide around. I will definitely need stairs so that, when needed, I can go up and down them on my butt. I would ideally find someone who has the engineering know how to set up a pulley system that I could use to manually lift myself up and down from the loft with a sling chair, but so far I haven't found anyone. Perhaps one of the readers will have the knowledge I need!

Inside of Dani's Barn Raiser

Any interesting elements that will make your tiny home special. How about that pink door?

Dani:I love my fuchsia door! I plan to paint the fascia boards and shutters the same color, then the rest of the trim white. The exterior walls will be a soft lavender.

Jay & Becky: As you may have noticed by our blog name, we have NO construction experience outside of building bird houses and pinewood derby race cars, back when our now about to graduate Eagle Scout was but a Cub. But seriously, we have installed laminate flooring in a previous house, remodeled a bathroom including toilet and tile and done minor electrical repairs. We are registered for the February Colorado Springs workshop and will be saving a lot of that "technical" stuff for when we get home. Hope to glean a lot of useful ideas from our workshop peers.

Jay, Becky and their two sons

Can you tell us more about your home, the size and design/layout you chose?

Jay & Becky: We chose the Tumbleweed Cypress 24 with an expanded sleeping loft. The French doors on the side were something we saw on a tiny house post and loved. We enjoy cooking so a near normal size kitchen with full size appliances is a must, as is a tub/shower. There will also be a small staircase to make climbing to our sleeping loft easier for Becky and accessible to our four legged family members. Jay is looking forward to incorporating his old component tuner and stereo speaker system into the house. Not exactly space efficient, but the sound is definitely better than ear buds!

Jonathon: I run an amazing, but demanding social business called Walk2Connect and am fortunate to have enough savings to invest in something like this. Time and professional experience without compromising my own creative and desired DIY experience was the main fruit for moving forward with a barn raiser. It was a perfect fit.

Check out Jonathon's inspiring TedTalk here about his walk across America.

Can you tell us more about your home, the size and design/layout you chose?

Jonathon:My home is a 24' customized "Elm" overlook (w/keyhole in loft) design. Its just perfect for what I had envisioned. It has a beautiful long pitched roof and an open floor plan. I wanted the door on the side to have a big front window and a nice sized couch/bed seating area. I wanted an exterior opening door that gives as much space as possible for my 6'4 frame, 90 lb dog and various guests.

Jonathon's loft

Anything you'd like to add about the build experience?

Jonathon:I'm beyond blessed by this experience. There is so much joy wrapped up in the planning and building. All of that said, I think I'm in my happiest places when I pull away from a work day and look at the collection of friends and family that have come together to help. Bringing together new and old faces through a tiny house project is inspiring, grounding, and healing.

Jonathon's tiny house with some siding installed. His adorable dog will also be sharing this space.

Going forward in 2015, we’ve decided to focus exclusively on our tiny homes on wheels (RVs) and remove the cottages from our website. While we do love the cottages, it’s clear that the Cypress, Elm and Mica are the most popular among our fans and we are focusing our entire company on improving those models.

The Cottages, comprised of our 9 homes on foundations, range from 261 to 874 square feet and are designed to meet the International Building Code. Most states have unique requirements which we are not prepared to handle and we can not build these models. Therefore, we will be licensing these designs to houseplans.com since they work with architects across the country to help individual builders meet their local and state codes.

Two years ago, we began manufacturing Tumbleweeds as RVs and now we are devoting ourselves 100% to this path. Since 2013, we've added 100’s of options to our models and made them incredibly easy to understand (see here). Tremendous improvements with financing and insurance paved the way for several customers to obtain 100% financing when purchasing their Tumbleweeds. 2015 is promising to provide even more banks and credit unions for customers looking to finance their purchase of a Tumbleweed with rates interest rates starting as low as 4.5%.

With all the attention tiny houses are receiving interest continues to grow. Our industry is growing up, and it’s important to recognize our role in making the tiny house RV more mainstream and accepted by governing bodies, banks, and insurance companies.

In 2012, Art completed his Tumbleweed home using SIPS and reclaimed wood and even posted some videos on YouTube explaining how he did it And that's how we connected - we asked him if he wanted to partake in our Tumbleweed Construction Video and Art obliged. One thing led to another and today Art is traveling the country teaching others the benefits of owning a tiny home. Read more on Art's blog.

Eddie and his girlfriend Lacey have their almost complete DIY Tumbleweed Cypress parked in a campground in Austin, Texas. Eddie's background is in real estate and he also recently joined the Tumbleweed team as a workshop host. More about their house and build here.

Guillaume and his girlfriend Jenna finished their DIY modified Cypress since September 2014. So far they've traveled over 7,000 miles with their tiny abode, from California to Nova Scotia to Atlanta, while hosting countless open houses and Tumbleweed workshops. Learn more about their tiny house journey here.

In a tiny kitchen, counter space is a luxury and clutter is your enemy. Bare counters are pleasing to the eye and functional for folding laundry, unpacking groceries and food prep. Bulky appliances such as microwaves, toaster ovens and coffee machines will quickly consume your counters.

So how do you declutter your counters in a tiny kitchen?

1). Eliminate any gadget that isn’t essential to your daily life. Ask yourself, do I really need a microwave? Do I need it enough to sacrifice the counter space? Do I need it enough to power it with electricity, which might limit my ability to be off-grid? Or, would it be simpler to warm my food on the stove? Key word: SIMPLER. Tiny living is about living a simpler, more fulfilling life. So keep it simple, and try not to overfill your space.

Tiny House GJ's Kitchen, which consists of a sink and a 3-burner stove.

2).Own gadgets / appliances that serve multiple purposes. For example, choose a pot lid that doubles as a strainer. Do you really need a tea kettle (an item that only serves one purpose), or will a pot of boiling water suffice?

3). Consider alternative appliances that consume less space. For example, this AeroPress can be used to make coffee instead of a standard machine. The AeroPress uses zero electricity and is only a fraction of the size of regular coffee machine. As a bonus, the paper filters are tiny and more compact for storage. Consider a french press too!

5). Hide “ugly” items. There’s no room for the word “ugly” in a tiny house. Place large or ugly appliances under the counter when not in use - such as blenders or toasters, unless they are beautiful to you!

6). Create counter space. Purchase a sink cover, such as a cutting board, that will expand your food prep area. Eliminate the counter space allocated for a stove top by using a portable hotplate that can be stored under the counter when not in use.

8). Custom containers. Food packaging can be cumbersome and ugly. Why have a box half full of sugar on your counter? Store your flour, sugar, cereal, etc. in small containers or decorative bags that can reduce in size as the food is consumed. Refill as needed.

9). Utilize cabinet doors. An old trick, but a good trick. Mount flat or small utensils to the inside of your cabinet doors instead of using a counter utensil rack. If you have a counter skirt, sew pockets into the material for storage.

10). Keep Organized. Keeping your kitchen counters bare and organized should be part of your daily routine. Every new appliance or gadget needs to have an appropriate place in your kitchen. Share your own counter space declutter tips below!

Can you have dinner guests in a tiny house? Yes, of course. Can you have Thanksgiving Dinner in your tiny house? Well, that depends. When designing your ideal tiny home you’ll need to plan ahead for such occasions.

Kitchen Space and Appliances.

When designing your tiny kitchen, appliances tend to be compact to save space. This might mean that your oven is a wee bit too small to hold an enormous turkey! Of course, you can choose to have full size appliances in your tiny kitchen, but consider the infrequency that you’ll be hosting a large dinner party before cramming those items into your cozy kitchen. Bottom line, your tiny kitchen should be designed for everyday use, not for special occasions.

I suggest asking your dinner guests to bring a dish pre-cooked or try cooking outdoors! Have you ever tried deep frying a turkey outdoors? It's a lot of fun and delicious! You can rent large deep fryers at your local party rental store. Or how about roasting your bird on the BBQ? That's what we did last year.

You might need to get creative, but anything is possible.

Seating.

As with any home, you are limited on the amount of dinner guests you can seat comfortably. In a tiny home your number will be more intimate than the average home, think party of four. We’ve managed to put on a dinner party for five, but it was tight! Our dinning area has a fold down table, a bench and two ottomans. We pulled in one of our lawn chairs for the fifth seat.

Embrace your lack of space by making your dinner party informal. It can be fun for some of your guests to eat upstairs, with plates on their laps and feet dangling from the loft. Make your dinner party unique and it will be an event your guests will not forget!

With the above open floorplan there’s enough room in this tiny house for three to eat comfortably at the folding table, while three others can eat in sitting area of the great room!

You can always host an outdoor dinner party (weather permitted). Appetizers and pre-drinks can take place in the standing room of the tiny house and the main course can be served outdoors at a comfortable picnic table. How lovely!

Another obstacle you may face is a lack of dishes. After all, being a tiny houser means being a minimalist! Not to worry, you can always ask your guests to BYOB or BYOP (Bring Your Own Bowls of Bring Your Own Plates) and because they’re about to eat dinner in a tiny house, they’ll surely understand.

Have you ever hosted Thanksgiving in a small space? Please share your stories and tips below!